Author: dispatchtimes news

High cognitive ability in women may come with a hidden social penalty in everyday workplace life, according to a multistudy investigation led by Nitya Chawla of the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota. In two separate settings, highly capable women were seen as more hostile by colleagues and reported receiving less assistance and more victimisation, while men with similar scores did not show the same pattern. Researchers note that cognitive ability encompasses the capacity to learn, reason, solve problems and grasp complex ideas, and that gender stereotypes continue to shape how peers evaluate and treat one another at work.…

A study of literate and illiterate women in Turkey has found that reading fluency is strongly linked to performance on a test of reasoning about what one person thinks another believes. The findings, published in PLoS One, suggest that literacy and the schooling that typically comes with it may shape this kind of advanced social reasoning in adulthood. A central concept in social psychology is “Theory of Mind,” which refers to the ability to recognise that other people have their own thoughts, desires and intentions. One way to measure this is through a false-belief task, which assesses whether an individual…

New research suggests that people with weaker handgrip strength are more likely to develop depressive symptoms over time, positioning muscular strength as an indicator of general health and vulnerability rather than a direct protective factor. The findings come from a large meta-analysis published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research. Depression remains a widespread mental health condition, affecting nearly four per cent of people globally and disproportionately impacting middle-aged and older adults. The condition often co-exists with physical illnesses and can shorten life expectancy, underscoring the quest for markers that flag at‑risk individuals before symptoms emerge. Handgrip strength, measured with a…

A large genetic analysis has identified DNA regions linked to binge-eating behaviour and anorexia nervosa, suggesting that the two conditions share genetic ties to other psychiatric disorders while moving in opposite directions on body weight. The study, published in Nature Mental Health, extends the field of eating-disorder genetics beyond its long emphasis on anorexia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is a condition characterised by an intense fear of gaining weight, leading to severely restricted food intake in an effort to maintain an unusually low body weight. Binge eating involves episodes of consuming unusually large amounts of food with a sense of loss…

A new study published in Politics, Groups, and Identities indicates that public opinion in the United States has shifted toward more conservative views on transgender toilet access between 2016 and 2022. The researchers, led by political scientist Patrick R. Miller of Kent State University, analysed two nationally representative online surveys to gauge how beliefs about safety, discrimination and policy outcomes shaped people’s preferences. The study presented participants with three statements reflecting the core political arguments around public toilet access for transgender people: whether unrestricted access poses a security risk to women and children; whether restroom restrictions amount to discrimination against…

A new study in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology suggests that collective nostalgia for a political party’s past is linked to support for political violence in two opposite directions, depending on how deeply people identify with their party. Led by Jocelyn J. Bélanger, an associate teaching professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, and co-authored by others, the research surveyed 417 adult US partisans and found that obsessive passion strengthens the link between nostalgia and willingness to use violence, while harmonious passion weakens it. The researchers distinguish between two forms of political commitment. Harmonious passion describes a freely chosen…

Researchers at ETH Zurich, led by Joshua Abd Alla and Ursula Quitterer, have identified a misbehaving enzyme—GRK2—that forms large clumps on mitochondria in the brains of mice engineered to model Alzheimer’s disease. The clumps align with mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress, and the team reports that chemical compounds designed to prevent or dissolve them slowed brain cell death and memory decline in the animals. The findings appear in Cell Reports Medicine. In healthy cells, GRK2 normally operates in the cytosol, where it helps regulate cellular communication and stress responses. When a specific phosphate tag is added, GRK2 can migrate to…

Researchers at the University of Bristol have revealed how liraglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist used to treat diabetes and obesity, may alter the brain–kidney axis that regulates body fluids. In a study published in Science Advances, the team shows the drug acutely lowers levels of arginine vasopressin, the key hormone for conserving water, and changes how signals from the brain reach the kidneys. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists mimic a natural digestive hormone, helping people feel full and prompting insulin release to manage blood sugar. Doctors have long observed that patients taking these medicines often lose water and sodium in…

A new small study suggests that sleeping for less than four hours diminishes physical endurance by reconfiguring how the brain’s networks communicate, rather than merely fatiguing the muscles. The study, published in the International Journal of Psychophysiology, was led by Chengcheng Zhu and Puyan Chi and their colleagues, who sought to understand the brain mechanisms behind central fatigue. Central fatigue is the idea that the brain plays a decisive role in how long a person can continue a physical task. When resources seem scarce, the brain can prematurely cut the electrical signals sent from the brain to the muscles, causing…

A small feasibility study conducted within Oregon’s state-regulated psilocybin programme suggests group psilocybin therapy is workable and tolerable for low‑income adults experiencing depression. Participants’ depression scores fell substantially after two group dosing sessions, though the absence of a control group means the specific role of psilocybin remains uncertain. The findings were published in the Journal of Psychedelic Studies. Psilocybin is the primary psychoactive compound in certain fungi, commonly referred to as “magic mushrooms.” When supervised, it is used to induce an altered state of consciousness that can help individuals process difficult emotions. Major depressive disorder is characterised by persistent sadness,…